Oh You Are NOT Fucking with the Fucking Smithsonian
Trump orders first steps toward making the Smithsonian Institution reflect his warped view of America
Mar. 28: Trump orders officials to start injecting his ideology into the Smithsonian … The south’s statues shall rise again, it seems, based on Trump’s order … Collins takes an almost-stand against Trump flouting congressional spending authority … GOP starts to sweat its imminent elections …
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The propaganda crusade of Pres. Donald Trump yesterday moved like a bitch on the closest thing America has to secular sacred space: the Smithsonian Institution.
Trump yesterday issued an executive order to force the Smithsonian and its exhibits to conform to his brain and only his brain. Vice Pres. JD Vance is in charge of Trump-braining the Smithsonian and has considerable experience in the field, having successfully Trump-brained his own brain.
“Improper ideology” will have to go, Trump decreed. So will “divisive narratives,” except, of course, the divisive narrative that it’s okay to ban “improper ideology.”
Trump ordered Vance to get Congress to block any funding for “exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, [or] divide Americans based on race.” The only shared American value is that we don’t have to share values.
Which is why the Smithsonian never in its history has had only what one person would want it to have. Let alone the president. The whole point of America is seen in the Smithsonian reflecting multiple viewpoints, not just those of a benighted, non-reading, incurious, ahistorical, know-nothing ignoramus.
The Smithsonian is not just a museum but educational and research centers, as well as the National Zoo. It is run by political appointees, mostly from an era when Republicans still appointed appointees based on expertise and credibility rather than ideology and narratives. It is also funded by Congress, so there will be a fight there, too.
Trump complained like a sad, triggered white dude that the Smithsonian portrayed America’s “founding principles” in a “negative light.” For the record, America’s founding principles included all of the following:
Sure, go ahead and own people
Black people can’t vote
White people can’t vote unless they have penises…
…and property.
People were created by magic.
Never use Signal to discuss national-security threats such as comely wenches, other witches, and Satan.
But also, the most important founding principle was that we’re supposed to change and get better.
Trump’s order makes pretty clear that “divisive” means anything acknowledging how white dudes have divided America into white dudes and not white dudes. Trump specifically singles out:
The National Museum of African American History and Culture,
The in-development Women’s History Museum,
and the American Art Museum.
Why the American Art Museum? Historian Adam Rothman flagged this section of Trump’s order:
…the Smithsonian American Art Museum today features “The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture,” an exhibit representing that “[s]ocieties including the United States have used race to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement.” The exhibit further claims that “sculpture has been a powerful tool in promoting scientific racism” and promotes the view that race is not a biological reality but a social construct, stating “Race is a human invention.”
“That's a true statement!” Rothman responded with exclamation points uncharacteristic of a historian. “The idea that race is biological was the foundation of racism!”
In other words — which could/probably should be headline words — the president of the United States just decreed that racial distinctions are biological — literally the deadliest, most destructive, most divisive narrative in U.S. history. And German history.
Trump wrote that, “Museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history.”
But the most divisive narrative in our history — like, literally, the narrative that America should be divided — will apparently get a new place of honor if anyone actually acts on Trump’s propaganda indoctrination.
Because Trump’s order suggests he’s just fine ignoring the founding principle that you shouldn’t commit treason. He directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to determine whether any “public monuments, memorials, statues, [or] markers” have been removed since 2020 to “inappropriately minimize the value of certain historical events or figures.”
That’s code for “bring back the statues of slave-owners and terrorists who led a military force against the United States so that they could keep making money off the forced labor of their lifelong hostages.” Y’know: Heroes!
Actual history would show that these moral monsters were only commemorated decades after their treason with the at-times explicit purpose of opposing the civil rights of Black people by minimizing the obscenity of a certain confederacy I could name.
It’s probably safe to assume that Vance will do whatever’s asked of him to diminish people of color and then disagree with it in a private Signal chat with his wife of color. Burgum might be a more interesting story.
Burgum’s ancestor “owned” 13 human beings. But his great-grandfather fought for the Union (aka, the United States) and his great-grandmother helped slaves escape via the Underground Railroad, which next year’s kindergarteners will probably learn was built by The Boring Company.
And as governor of North Dakota, Burgum bucked his party on targeting LGBTQ+ people. So it remains to be seen how he’ll execute this order.
THE GOOD NEWS Like virtually all of Trump’s executive orders, this is basically a wish list. He’s telling Vance to see if he can get some stuff. He’s asking Burgum to check out some stuff. Congress still has a role, etc.
But also, there’s an internet. And us.
When Trump tried to erase Jackie Robinson from our military history, it didn’t work. It so didn’t work that the Department of Defense (DOD) put Robinson back and blamed AI or bad actors for removing Robinson from a military website in accordance with Trump’s and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s racist initiatives.
I have a smart, prophetic friend who worries rightly about the internet and memory holes and suppression of reality. But the internet also means that it only takes one break in the dam for our Robinsons to live on. And censorship risks the Streisand Effect.
As the Minnesota Star-Tribune’s La Velle E. Neal III wrote:
…in the aftermath of the DoD’s botched attempt to scrub anything DEI-related from its website, [Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob] Kendrick, in a text message last week, confirmed that a number of people made donations to the museum.
To make a point, a number of those donations were for exactly $42.
Thanks again, Department of Defense.
History can’t die as long as we keep it alive.
Key Republican Breaks Ranks
In a surprising show of non-Susan-Collinsness, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) yesterday told the White House “no.” Specifically, Collins initiated a letter to the White House informing Pres. Donald Trump that he’s breaking the law when it comes to spending and explaining to him that breaking the law is against the law.
Here’s the background. Remember that huge fight over the GOP’s recent six-month spending bill? That’s the one where Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) screamed at Senate Democrats until enough of them agreed to vote for it and then Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) covered for her.
Well, on Monday, the White House told Congress that their bill was very pretty and all, but that Trump would ignore the parts he didn’t like. Just like most Democrats predicted.
Specifically, Trump said he wouldn’t spend lawfully allocated funds including:
$750 million in international disaster assistance
$750 million in migration and refugee assistance
$234 million for the National Science Foundation
$115 million for international War on Drugsing
$100 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Collins chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. So she wrote back, with ranking Appropriations member Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). They said that while Trump “purports” to be acting lawfully, he’s not. (“Purports” is Senate-speak for “fuck you, you fucking lying doody-pants.”)
The Democrats’ lead House appropriator, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) also wrote to Trump budget chief Russell Vought, co-author of Project 2025 and co-believer of The Bible, informing him in less Collins-esque language that:
“If you direct agencies to spend this money you would be requiring them to draw money from the Treasury, absent an appropriation made by law.”
Violating federal budget law, she helpfully explained, would risk fines and other punishment1. Murray and DeLauro, by the way, voted against the GOP budget bill earlier this month.
House of Sweat
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) won’t get to be Pres. Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, after all. The White House just turned her UN nomination into an un-nomination.
Trump has no problem nominating appointees who are open Christian nationalists, credibly accused rapists, and/or picked-them-from-a-phone-book unqualified, but Stefanik had a problem even Trump wasn’t willing to overlook.
She’s a House Republican. And Trump’s presidency is so profoundly unpopular that he can’t afford to lose any of the Republican seats that keep theocrat Mike Johnson (R-LA) in the speaker’s chair. Republicans clearly don’t think they could hold Stefanik’s seat if she left.
Hilariously, they all thought Stefanik was a sure thing for the ambassadorship, so they gave away her House leadership role, meaning she just got musical-chaired back down to the rank-and-file. Also hilariously, most of her staff had already resigned.
And there’s another Republican seat up next week that the GOP is increasingly nervous about.
Florida Republican state Sen. Randy Fine is running for National Security Adviser Mike Waltz’s old seat — which Waltz might want back if he gets bounced for blabbing U.S. secrets on Signal. Fine was endorsed by Trump, who won the district by 30 points last year (as did Waltz), and Fine is crowing about that endorsement.
Republicans think he might lose. Steve Bannon thinks he will lose.
Fine’s raised only $1 million. His opponent, math teacher Josh Weil, has raised $10 million. How do ya like that math?
According to the Wall Street Journal, Fine put $600,000 — which he made in the gambling industry off people’s misfortunes — into his campaign, which if it succeeds would increase people’s misfortunes. His ads have tied Weil to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), so let’s keep that in mind when we get the results next week.
Weil is within the margin of error, so even if Fine wins, the fact that they had to work for this sends an unmistakeable Signal. And it’s echoing elsewhere.
In the potentially pivotal Wisconsin state Supreme Court race on Tuesday, Republican Brad Schimel is trailing in the polls. It’s not just one seat that’s at stake, it’s control of the court, which means control of state congressional lines and, potentially, the state’s presidential vote in 2028.
And in Pennsylvania, this week, East Petersburg Mayor James Malone just surprised the shit out of everyone whose job it is to be super-savvy about political races. Malone won a state Senate seat in a district that hasn’t gone Democratic in almost half a century, went for Trump by 15 points last year, and has now figured out that it fucked up by 15 points last year.
Spotlight PA reports that the district consists of “small towns, farmland, and burgeoning exurbs,” my new favorite band name.
Malone’s opponent ran as a Trump disciple who would protect libraries from drag queens no really. Elon Musk even tried to rally support for Malone’s opponent. And failed.
Four Quickies
Britain and France are lending Ukraine a hand. Many hands, actually. And weakening Pres. Donald Trump’s leverage in forcing a deal between Ukraine and Russia. The two countries are sending military teams to Ukraine. It doesn’t look like they’re heading for the front lines, but it certainly complicates Russia’s goal of seizing more of Ukraine without directly combatting NATO nations.
New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney broke up with America yesterday. It’s not them, it’s us. Thanks to Donald Trump somehow being president, it’s taken just two months to fuck up centuries of mutually beneficial cooperation. And not just on economic terms. “The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over,” Carney said yesterday.
The number of abortions done every year in this country has gone
downup since the right-wing, theocratic, corporatist Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and two authors have a new book out addressing why. In short, as they told Salon’s Amanda Marcotte, the ruling was so traumatic that it shattered a logjam in blue states, allowing for the defeat of measures that were restricting abortion access. With abortion now more accessible in blue states, red-state patients are able to have abortions easier. Thanks, Jesus!The American Prospect’s Harold Meyerson writes that Jeff Bezos looks to be competing with Elon Musk for World’s Worst Evil Billionaire. Amazon is fighting the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which ordered the recall of a number of dangerous products. So Amazon is now claiming that the CPSC is unconstitutional. If that argument wins in court, the federal agency responsible for protecting us from flammable rubber duckies, poisonous bicycles, and exploding dildos will go away. Even before Pres. Donald Trump gets to kill it.
One Nitfucking
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg put out a video slamming top Trump administration officials for the Signal security breach. The argument is, not surprisingly, spot on. But his headline takeway is crazy-making. His conclusion is that they can’t keep us safe. But here in grownup land, no one can keep us safe. I mean, we all understand that, right? Under every administration, people gonna die. If Democrats really want to lead and win, they have to start rejecting the narratives of the past 50 years. And that includes the paternalistic concept of government keeping us safe.
Recommended Reading
Matt Stoller did an impressive deep dive into the politics of an undercovered political force in this country: Big law firms.
The Lever’s Luke Goldstein has an enlightening look at how eggflation is being used by Big Ova to break the competition and scramble regulations that affect the health of chickens and oh yeah us.
The problem with the Alien Enemies Act isn’t that the people being deported aren’t Tren de Aragua, it’s that Tren de Aragua aren’t Enemies as defined by the law, as Salon’s Russell Payne explains.
Those rallies led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) weren’t just pep rallies. They were organizing, too, the American Prospect’s Micah L. Sifry writes.
TCB
CHECKING IN As I mentioned yesterday, I’m thinking of shifting TFN’s non-cursey, non-NSFW Bonus Stories — intended in part for Very Serious journalists to read and enjoy — off to my other Substack. They’d still be free, but LMK if you Newsfuckers have any thoughts on the shift.
ELECTIONS
Tuesday, April 1: House of Representatives (Florida-1) — Democrat Gay Valimont vs. Republican Jimmy Patronis.
Tuesday, April 1: House of Representatives (Florida-6) — Democrat Josh Weil vs. Republican Randy Fine.
Tuesday, April 1: Wisconsin state Supreme Court — Democrat Susan Crawford vs. Republican Brad Schimel.
TAKING ACTION Upcoming events/actions:
Today: Nestlé Blackout (water wars, child labor)
Today-The Second Coming: Tesla boycott.
April 7-13: Walmart Blackout (‘nuff said)
April 21-27: General Mills Blackout
RESOURCES
Mental reassurance that at least lawyers are fighting back on fill-in-the-blank.
REVOLVING DOOR PROJECT
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Go get ‘em, kids! It looks like we might get a very nice weekend, at least here in the Northeast, so I encourage you to spend some time outdoors just…being outdoors…
TFN creator and writer Jonathan Larsen co-created Up w/ Chris Hayes and wrote for Countdown with Keith Olbermann at MSNBC, helped launch CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° and Air America Radio, and has also worked at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Young Turks.
In the event we had a functioning Justice Department, obvi, but hey there’s always 2029!
What an EXCELLENT newsround :o)
I laughed: "They said that while Trump “purports” to be acting lawfully, he’s not. (“Purports” is Senate-speak for “fuck you, you fucking lying doody-pants.”)"
And Yay for the Brits and the French (and maybe Germany from today?) in Ukraine *waves Union flag
Trump is doing his best to destroy America and the Republican party is aiding and abetting him in the destruction of our country. I don't care what the supreme court said. Trump must be tried for his crimes against America!